paycheck – 2 Chicks and a blog

Today I reflected on yesterday, or basically how times have changed in comparison to when I grew up. The comparison is drastic to say the least. Then I opted to compare being a child born in early 90’s to a child born in the mid 2000’s. Again, a crazy comparison but not as drastic or maybe it is.

Here are my notes:

Child A – born in 1970’s

Child B – born in 1990’s

Child C – born in 2000’s

Phone expectations:

A-Phone privacy is a luxury. Having a second phone line at home is high society. And I can’t forget the good old pay phone.

B-Cell phone as a pre-teen if you are lucky. Not a smart phone just a phone. Texting was at a premium.

C-iPad as preschooler, wifi access, texting, internet and most likely a cell phone for emergencies in late elementary school.

Vehicle expectations:

A-Work to earn money to buy second-hand car. Pay for gas with personal earnings. A job, a paper route, babysitting, whatever was available.

B-Help with a car purchase. May have a job to pay for gas and things but also needs help.

C-Needs new car. Specific type of car. Expects gas for free.

Pay expectations:

A-Minimum wage was low. $5.00 / hour might have been a good job.

B-$9.00 / hour might be good. Looking for easy money jobs. High tips. High commission. More money, less work.

C-$12.00 – $20.00 / hour demands. Work ethic decreased dramatically. Expects high pay for little effort.

The list could go on and on. I’m sure many have variations of this list but it was one I jotted down while reflecting. A little humor post to out here: a Time Machine of sorts. Fast forward 10-20 years and I hate to see what this list looks like.

Were there other factors that may impact these changes? Dual income families vs. single income families?

The internet?

So many questions in my mind.

The countdown is on.

A few weeks until summer ends and school is back in session…or is it?

My district ended last year with over 40 unexpected days of digital learning due to COVID-19.

Now it is 6 weeks later. Numbers of cases that seemed to be trending down in my area have sloped back northward. School districts are starting to try to make decisions about how they will open schools. Cue the special meetings, surveys, and plans (subject to change, of course). Also cue the opinions, the feelings, the exceptions, the arguments, the fears.

Colleagues have asked me many times throughout my career if I would want to become a school administrator. My answer is always a fervent and unequivocal NO. Times like this only magnify those feelings. I don’t envy the public scrutiny that leaders are under in this seemingly no-win time.

I understand…

A significant portion of the economy depends on schools being open.

Many kids have their best access to food, learning, and social / mental health resources when they are in school.

Being taught (in person) by credentialed professionals is what we believe works best for most students.

At the same time…

Many teachers and school workers are themselves vulnerable to serious COVID-19 cases, or live with and care for other people who have those underlying conditions.

This virus is still new and developing, so science is still catching up to understanding what it is, how it moves, and so on.

Our schools are mostly based on kids being close together and moving with organized freedom throughout buildings and surrounding areas.

All the money and power at stake make every decision a politically charged and controversial one.

Then there are the logistics questions that come along with schools opening…

How do kids ride a bus? How do they have recess? Can they sing? Can they play sports? Will there be field trips or assemblies? Anyone who has worked with elementary school kids knows that kids love hugs and playing together which often involves contact. How do I police that? I can’t even start about the masks, or what happens when a suspected case pops up.

Will all the fun stuff just be stripped away?

In the end, I know this:

No choice will make everyone happy.

No choice will keep everyone healthy.

No choice will meet everyone’s needs.

We will be doing the best we can given what we know, and know that what we know might change at any given time. Not an easy position for any of us.

I went to a branch of our local public library recently. They opened up the buildings a few weeks ago. This gorgeous, light-flooded, award-winning building, created for people to congregate and spend time reading and learning, is full of caution tape to keep people out or at least moving.

I’m not sure there is enough caution tape to insulate school kids and workers from what we are facing. Our best protections will be patience, good faith, positivity, resilience, flexibility and showing kids and colleagues that we care about them in every way we can imagine.

Tag: paycheck

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